About Colonel Winthrop Hilton

During the winter of 1704/5, Hilton led a force of 250 English and 20 Indians against the Abenaki settlement at Norridgewock (Narantsouak) on the Kennebec where the Jesuit Father Rale had built a church and mission. The heavy snow delayed Hilton’s force, and Father Rale and the Indians evacuated the village before they arrived. The New Englanders burned the abandoned wigwams and chapel.

In January, 1707 Colonel Winthrop Hilton surprised eighteen Indians at dawn and killed all but one while they were asleep. Once the firing began, the action probably lasted no longer than five minutes.